Beware the British serpent : the role of writers in British propaganda in the United States, 1939-1945 / / Robert Calder

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910824531803321
• Autore: Calder Robert <1941->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Montreal ; ; Ithaca, [N.Y.], : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004
• ISBN: 1-282-86173-5; 9786612861734; 0-7735-7179-5
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: xiv, 311 p., [6] p. of plates : ill
• Disciplina: 940.54/88673
• Soggetti: Authors, English - 20th century - Political and social views; English literature - Political aspects; Propaganda, British - United States - History - 20th century; World War, 1939-1945 - Literature and the war; World War, 1939-1945 - Propaganda; World War, 1939-1945 - United States; Guerre mondiale, 1939-1945 - Propagande; Propagande britannique - ?Etats-Unis - Histoire - 20e si?ecle
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Includes index.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-300) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front Matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Illustrations -- The Yanks Aren’t Coming -- The Strangling Old School Tie -- The Magic of the Word -- Making the War Seem Personal -- Uncoordinated Observations -- One God-Damned Thing after Another -- A Sad Story of Official Duplicity -- Unheralded Ambassadors from England -- Thrilling and Dramatic Fiction -- A Friendly Intruder in a Non-Belligerent World -- The Most Gigantic Engines of Propaganda -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Using newly uncovered archival material, Calder offers provocative new insights into the war work of more than forty prominent British authors, focusing particularly on Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, H.G. Wells, Vera Brittain, and J.B. Priestley. He provides a comprehensive analysis of the suspicions beneath the wartime Anglo-American alliance and ; describes the tensions that arose between the British Ministry of Information and the Foreign Office over the nature and direction of the propaganda campaign in the United States.Calder demonstrates that Britain's well-organized propaganda campaign in the United States to persuade it to enter World War I had left isolationist and Anglophobic Americans highly suspicious of anything that hinted of propaganda. Any effort to influence public opinion had therefore to be carefully and subtly undertaken, and the British Government soon realised that well-known authors - employed officially or semi-officially - were ideal for the task. Respected for their pens, they were especially suited to reminding Americans of their strongest links with Britain - a common language and a shared cultural heritage of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Hardy, Thackeray, and others. As well, their profession had often led them to tour, speak, write, and live in America, and, because they could live on their royalties and speaking fees, they were not on the payroll of the British government and thus could not be identified as paid foreign agents.